21 unexpected places where top supermodels were discovered

Gisele Bündchen got her big break in a McDonald's of all places. Getty Images

Everyone has to start somewhere. But many of the world's top models started their careers in the places they least expected to.

While some models purposely enter the industry through contests and rounds of auditions, a number of fashion's biggest names launched their careers almost entirely by chance. Some of the industry's biggest icons were unexpectedly discovered while eating at McDonald's, horseback riding, and working in a cornfield, among other surprising circumstances.

Victoria's Secret Angel Adriana Lima was discovered at a shopping mall when she was 13, according to Model Management.

In 1988, Kate Moss, then 14, was discovered in line to board a flight at JFK airport.

Kate Moss for Versace in 1999.
Luca Bruno/AP Photo

Unbeknownst to Moss, who was returning from vacation in the Bahamas, the woman behind her in line was the Sarah Doukas, the founder of Storm Model Management. Doukas recruited Moss for her agency on the spot.

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Model scouts recruited Gisele Bündchen when she was eating a Big Mac at Mcdonald's, according to Vanity Fair.

A modeling scout spotted then-14-year-old Coco Rocha while she was competing in an Irish dance contest, she told BuzzFeed.

At first, Rocha was hesitant to become a model and told BuzzFeed that her first photo shoot was awkward. But at 15, the model traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, where she learned the iconic posing she's known for now.

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A scout spotted Candice Swanepoel at a flea market in Durban, South Africa, and thought she'd make a great model, Marie Claire reported.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley started out on the agency side of things, making tea, sending faxes, and performing other administrative duties before she stepped in front of the camera, she told Industrie magazine.